Home » Blog » Without justification, establish the given formula

Without justification, establish the given formula

Obtain the following formula without attempting to justify the steps used in the process.

    \[ \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (n+1)x^n = \frac{1}{(1-x)^2}. \]


Starting with the formula for the sum of a geometric series and differentiating both sides (without justifying that we can do this) we have

    \begin{align*}   &&\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} x^n &= \frac{1}{1-x} \\[9pt]  \implies && \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} nx^{n-1} &= \frac{1}{(1-x)^2} \\[9pt]  \implies && \sum_{n=-1}^{\infty} (n+1)x^n &= \frac{1}{(1-x)^2} \\[9pt]  \implies && \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (n+1)x^n &= \frac{1}{(1-x)^2}. \end{align*}

One comment

  1. anonymouse says:

    Why is it that only 1 of the n’s in the last line is incremented?

    Also, this is doable by turning (n+1)x^n into nx^n + x^n which is exercise 11 + the sum of a geometric series

Point out an error, ask a question, offer an alternative solution (to use Latex type [latexpage] at the top of your comment):